Checkpoint Safety Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4020 To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the deployment of law enforcement personnel at airport screening locations at very large air- ports, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2019 Mr. ENGEL (for himself, Ms. MENG, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. SWALWELL of Cali- fornia, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Miss RICE of New York) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Home- land Security A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the deploy- ment of law enforcement personnel at airport screening locations at very large airports, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Checkpoint Safety Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4020.IH H4020 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4020 IH SEC. 2. DEPLOYMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL 1 AT AIRPORT SCREENING LOCATIONS AT 2 VERY LARGE AIRPORTS. 3 Section 44901(h)(2) of title 49, United States Code, 4 is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except at airports re- 7 quired to enter into agreements under sub- 8 section (c), the Administrator shall order the 9 deployment of at least one law enforcement offi- 10 cer authorized to carry firearms within 300 feet 11 of each airport security screening location and 12 within the terminal during operating hours at 13 each airport at which the number of annual 14 enplanements for the most recent calendar year 15 for which data are available is 8 million or more 16 or the number of international enplanements is 17 1 million or more. The Administrator shall 18 order the deployment of additional law enforce- 19 ment officers authorized to carry firearms at 20 such airports if the Administrator determines 21 that such additional deployment is necessary to 22 ensure airport security. 23 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—The Administrator may 24 waive the application of all or part of the re- 25 quirements of subparagraph (A) only if the rel- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4020.IH H4020 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4020 IH evant law enforcement agency with jurisdiction 1 over an airport described in such subparagraph 2 certifies in a written application to the Adminis- 3 trator that adherence to all or part of such re- 4 quirements would— 5 ‘‘(i) make provision of adequate secu- 6 rity for such airport impossible; and 7 ‘‘(ii) cause extreme hardship to such 8 law enforcement agency that would se- 9 verely impair its ability to perform its du- 10 ties.’’. 11 SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE IN FEDERAL AIR- 12 PORT SECURITY. 13 Section 44903 of title 49, United States Code, is 14 amended— 15 (1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 16 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘passengers’’ and insert- 17 ing ‘‘persons’’; and 18 (2) in subsection (c)(1)— 19 (A) in the first sentence, as amended by 20 paragraph (2)— 21 (i) by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘(A) The Administrator’’; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4020.IH H4020 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4020 IH (ii) by striking ‘‘passengers’’ and in- 1 serting ‘‘all persons and property’’; and 2 (B) by adding at the end the following new 3 subparagraph: 4 ‘‘(B) Any air transportation security program estab- 5 lished pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be adequate to 6 ensure— 7 ‘‘(i) close cooperation between all relevant par- 8 ties in ensuring airport security; 9 ‘‘(ii) high training standards for all security 10 and law enforcement personnel; 11 ‘‘(iii) prompt notification of and law enforce- 12 ment response to any security incidents which may 13 arise at the airport, including detention of persons 14 who may attempt to evade transportation security 15 screening; and 16 ‘‘(iv) multiple means for Transportation Secu- 17 rity Officers or members of the public to request 18 prompt law enforcement assistance in the airport.’’. 19 SEC. 4. STATIONING OF DEPUTIZED LAW ENFORCEMENT 20 OFFICERS. 21 Section 44922 of title 49, United States Code, is 22 amended by striking subsection (f). 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4020.IH H4020 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS